The RC8 is KTM's first attempt at making a sports motorcycle potentially capable of competing in WSB. And for a first attempt it seems very good. Like many sports bikers I have been rather excited by the arrival of the Arseyate and was keen to give it a decent test to see if it matches up to all the hype.

I rode this one over a fair selection of roads here in Belgium, clocking up a total of 236 kms (147.5 miles) and it now has 1600 kms on the clock, so well run in I would say. My route included motorway miles, (E411) and good twisty (ish) roads that I know, being the N910, N946, N948, N936 and N97, around the general area of Dinant.

The way this bike was set up on the multi-adjustable riding position worked well. The bars and subframe were set at their lowest position and the footpegs were as low and as far back as they can go and this equates to a very comfortable riding position, with a fairly short reach to the bars. A bit more upright to what I am used to on my Blade.

The fairing and screen work well. The screen looks low when you look at the bike and is low when you're seated, but even up to a near top speed run of 257 kph indicated (160 mph) you don't feel the need to tuck down. Doesn't seem like much is left in the power dept after 160 mind.

But the engine pulls really nicely producing enough power to be getting on with and feels like it's equal to KTM's claims of about 140 BHP at the rear wheel. I haven't ridden a V twin for a while but the fuelling on this RC8 seemed a bit on or off, with not much in between, so a bit snatchy and grabby in traffic and in town. Fine once you're going, but not good enough for a bike costing as much as this one does.

The dash is great fun, fully digital and very useful, it can all be altered by the lap timer button on the left clip-on as you happily ride along and has some useful details too. It also looks great when in a tunnel (or at night), as the background is Orange, very funky indeed.

Looking at the bike everything seems fairly easy to get to and is probably quite a good bike to work on.

The fuel tank has a rubber flange in it to stop fuel splashing back out of the filler and leaving petrol speckles on your tank while fuelling up. Nice touch, that.

The hand controls are all easy to get to and they seem well laid out. I've read about the gear changing problems in magazine articles, but I didn't find it hard to change or have it jump out of gear once. The gearbox was very smooth all in all, but changing down lightly from 2nd to 1st would invariably mean hitting neutral, it needed a good hefty clonk to make it go into first from 2nd in traffic.

Pratting about in town the bike seems to have a low centre of gravity and not at all top heavy. It has a good turning circle making manoeuvring a doddle.

Oh, and the bike's orange and looks the dogs danglies.

But there are perhaps a few too many bad points .. for a start the mirrors are crap!! They vibrate like hell and are about much use as a chocolate fireguard. The right vibrated more than the left and at all speeds with endless amounts of adjusting to try and correct it. Now some people may feel mirrors aren't that important, but I reckon they are essential bits of kit and the very least they must do is work!

Vibration seems to be a bit of an issue generally. Through the bars the vibes at anything over 130 kph are bad and very unnerving, so imagine what it was like at 257 kph as the front tyre starts give a slight weaving sensation too. Not good as the vibration just increases the faster you go and the as the revs rise. It's also worse through the footpegs than a Jap inline 4, as you'd expect I guess, but just about bearable. It doesn't have to be this way - Aprilias are OK.

The engine heat from the rear cylinder rising to the underside of your right thigh is unpleasant when moving slowly, and you still feel it when a travelling a bit faster; shades of RC30 there. In traffic you also get a fair bit of heat coming up towards your face which is uncomfortable - and ambient temperature was only 22c, so not what I would call hot at all. Don't stand near the bike in the heat of summer when it's at a standstill, you may feint of heat exposure. Could be dead handy in the depths of winter though?

The suspension on this bike was not right. The mechanic did say it was set up for the track, but I've set my Blades up for tracks and they still worked fine on smooth Belgian roads. On normal roads the RC wouldn't turn in and gave no confidence mid bend. The rear wanted to weave all over the place when cranked over and felt extremely over damped and stiff. It was as if the tyres were pumped up to about 60 psi each and the bike simply did not feel at all planted on the road at any time. No good at all for back road scratching and you need more compliance for any kind of road riding.

I was gobsmacked by this and very disappointed. You may be able to dial some of that out as the suspension is WP, but I didn't have a screwdriver with me and the bike's toolkit was absent (!) so I had to try and ride around it, but it could not be ignored. Bearing in mind that the front forks on my Blade are also WP and K-Tech internals, I do know what's good and what is not good.

The front brakes work well but the rear brake pedal is very hard to feel and I only realised it was on by the high pitched screeching of the rear disc.

Being used to bikes having some storage space under the pillion seat, however marginal it may be, the KTM comes as a bit of a shock as there is no storage space anywhere, not for ciggies, power commanders, puncture kits, mobile phones, nothing. There doesn't seem to be any luggage carrying capability without covering the plastics in loads of duct tape, but I am told KTM will be bringing out a rack type affair for the bike, which will be handy. Either that or just take a small bag of Dreft and wash your smalls out each night, hoping they may dry before the next days ride!

Quality wise the bike doesn't look at all bad, but the paint was starting to wear off the frame and was through to the metal where the rider's boots rubbed it. The footpegs are in need of some heel plates. Not a good design for a ten and half grand bike!! It is all a little bit motocross issue, so you can tell the KTM heritage.

On another practical issue, the bike's design is very minimalist at the back, with a kicked-up tail unit and lots of open space above the rear wheel. But the downside of this avant garde styling is that your back gets soaked in the rain from the rear wheel - and this is with the standard number plate hanger in place. Not so good for riding on just damp roads either.

Staying with the practical issues, what about fuel consumption? V-twins do tend to use more than their fair share of essence, but the RC8 was better than I expected. After filling it to the brim I didn't see the fuel light after my run of 185 kms (115 miles), at an average of 121.1 kph (75.6 mph), and that did include the top speed run as well. As I was only about 20 kms from home on the way back I only stuck 10 euros worth in it, so not sure how much I had actually used. But let's put it this way, it's nowhere near as bad as the 1098S experience of last summer we had.

Conclusion

Ok, so this is KTM's first go at a superbike and it has a lot of potential. But it is not an easy bike to live with and when I hopped back onto my 'Blade after riding the RC8 I had to wonder why on earth I was thinking of changing the bike I have. The Fireblade is so much nicer in what I consider to be the critical parts of riding sports bikes and my bike is over 3 years old!

I did have the luxury of sampling a 2008 model 'Blade last week and used it for a couple of days to commute on with a bit of general riding thrown in, and this was seventh heaven, so the KTM did have a lot to live up to. But for me it fell way short of a bike that is effectively 2 grand cheaper.

The KTM is not 'real world' enough for me, yet. It needs more development, a bit more refining and thinking about to make it attractive enough to those currently on Japanese 4s who may be considering a change. After a couple of hours on it I knew that I couldn't live with the RC8 and it would be left wanting when doing serious miles in Europe with my mates on their Gixers and Hondas. Perhaps V-twins like this are for a different kind of rider, one who is as aware of his bike as of the ride. I guess we may be more involved in the riding and the bike just has to be easy and efficient, minimal input! And modern fours are great at that.

This is only my opinion, but it's not in any way biased as I have been seriously researching the RC8 before taking one out and am bitterly disappointed. The KTM was right at the top of my 'next bike' list and I really wanted it to be good, but now it is certainly off that list. But try one for yourself - there's a decent bike in there somewhere for the right rider. Just make sure you take a screwdriver with you!

PS Newly launched is the RC8R, 1195cc making 170bhp. The bike is very much designed for the track, with stiffer suspension and poor pick-up from low revs prohibiting practical road use. Gearbox is supposed to be better.